A common tactic, if you cannot afford a lawyer, is to allege hearsay. If you’ve never heard of the debt collector, how do you know it’s not a scam? The answer is, you don’t.

The debt collector must prove that the debt is valid. Each state has a standard for what that is. For example, in my state, the collector must provide a full and complete accounting of charges, consisting of monthly statements and a signed agreement.

Slight important addition to the previous comment: if they don’t show up, and you also don’t show up, the debt collector still wins. So absolutely, ALWAYS ALWAYS show up.

A common tactic in court is to claim that the debt is hearsay. How do you know that the debt collector has a valid claim on the debt? How do you know it’s a scam. Without evidence, the answer is, you don’t.

In my state, for a debt to be valid in court, the claimant has to provide a full and complete accounting of charges with, at the very least, monthly statements and a signed agreement.

If the debt collector cannot establish that the debt is valid in court, they lose.

Of course, lawyers know these things very well. I’ve dealt with and done well with defending against shady debt collectors in court by hiring a good attorney. I strongly recommend it.